The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-05-11
THE WAY IN WHICH MUCH IS DONE TO
UNDERMINE STURDY HONESTY, AND
TO CORRUPT wHOLEsoMENEss OF
PUBLIC FEELING.
"It is Cruel, Rapacious, Heartless, soulless
and Downright Stealing to Take the
Money of Goods or Another and
Refuse to Pay
Editorial Comment of the ''Greenville
News Which Should Bring n
Blush. to the Supreme Court of

News Which Should Bring a
Blush. to the Supreme Court OF
South Carolina.
The Abberilc Medium having endorsed the
action of the Supreme Court whereby credi.
tors may be cheated, and that newspaper
having applied the most offensive cpithets to
those who have committed no greater sin
than that of lending money to debtors who
may seek to cheat them, the Greenrille Ne,os
moraliZes as follows:
The A6beuine Medium, regards the recent
decision OF the supreme court, denying the
right ofa married woman TO mortgage her
property as security for the debts Of another
person, asa good thing. In its head lines
over the text of the decision II says: Mar
eied women have some rights In South caro-
lima which rapacous and cruel creditor Is
bound to respect"
We have observed that the words "rapa.
cious, ""cruel," "heartless" and "soulless" are
favorite ones to apply to creditors, especially
by the lawyers for the defence.when an effort
Is being made to evade payment on i 9uiopie5 t5
prosecuted creditor who docs not intend tC
pay knows that the evidence Of his indebted
ness Is lost or destroyed or can hatch up a
counter claim, he boldly calls MS credltQi ai ,,
for him. But when the evidence Is clear
cruelty and rapacity Immediately become i'm
portant elements of the case; so that 1t has
come to be generally accepted that any man
who tries 10 get back the money he has
loaned or pay for the goods he has sold from
the borrower or purchaser who Is unwilling
or unable TO pay is rapacious, cruel hcartles'
and soIlless
It is better, however. for people to have
clear understanding Of these matters and tc
consider where the cruelty and rapacity
really are. -
the Aultman &c Taylor company sold the de
fendant, Rush, n steam engine, They paid
for the iron to make 1t and paid the workmen
who hammered it out and put 1T together
II was theirs, part Of their property on the
returns from which, we may, presume, tho
members OF the company depend to feed
their wives and children and TO pay theii
Workmcn the. wages which feed other wives
and children. Down here in South Caroline
Mr.. Rush bought the engine for his use nnd
service and to make money with. He got tho
results of the capital, labor and ingenuity O
the manufacturers and used them FOR HE
personal advantage. As his name was no no
GOOD enough to obtain for him credit from tho
makers and owners of the property, his wift
voluntarily helped him and on the value o
land she owned enabled him i Ito to buy buy the the
property produced by and at the cost OF an
other, has received all the profits from 1t, ir
the benefit Of which the wife presumably
shared, has possession Of it now and has mol
paid for it. Who is the sufferer? Who IL
cruel and rapaciouS the people who tried X
get pay for what they had made. owned and
sold, or the man who got II from them ano
Observation and study of most ltigated
cases of debtor and creditor will show. we
think, that the cruelty and rapacty are or
the debtors side. Differences In wealth dc
not make differences IN the moral oolgat,oi
man who lends his money has as much right
to demand its return and the payment of the
price for its use mutually agreed upon as
poor man has to be paid lot, ior MS Is lhoo[; 1 ths
claim for payment from the purchaser just as
honest as the claim OF the poorest farmer tc
be paid for the cotton he sells. \ mans mis-
honest debts while he has dollar in money
or property 10 pay on them. He has no rlgh
to force others to share his misfortnncs or tc
suffer from them.
Hundreds ofmerchants and manuiacturers
are made poor and forced to see those depend
ent on them suffer by the bad faith and ras
cality OF debtors; every year In almost every
community men, and sometimes helpless
wears of labor and thrift by flaws in mortgages
or other shifty tricks Of borrowers; every
man who has been long in business can show
on his books entries to prove that large
ey, toll and brains has been taken by people
in whose honor he trusted and who have new
er paid, forcing him to suffer for the failure o
their plans and hopes, or wilfully cheating
him. :,
Remembering all these facts, too vel
known to be questioned, would 1t not be well
to divide the use of the words "cruel, ,""heart
less" and "rapacious" and TO apply them al
least half the time to the debtors? Ought
creditors and monopolists to- have monopoly
of those strong adjcctives?
Let any farmer haul q bale OF cotton to 9
town and sell IL to q manufacturer who rails
to pay for it. and makes it up into cloth which
he sells and receives the money for; then We
will hear OF q cruel and rapacious debter; lcts
newspaper manager hire his space to a mer
chan: and have his demand for payment re
fused, and we will hear more oft. Yet the
merchandise of the merchant, the product o
the manu- racturer and the money OF the mon
ey lender represent as much Of the labor
capital and brain OF their respective owner:
as the bale of cotton or the newspaper space
We need to understand in this country thai
1t Is cruel and rapacious 10 buy or borrow
when you know you can not pay; cruel and
rapacious to dlsappoint creditors whether
they are or are not trusting to your payment
TO pay what they owe; cruel, rapacious, heart
less, soulles and downright stealing to take
the money or goods of another and refuse tc
pay while you can by any possibility pay.
Denagogucs who shout OF the cruelty and
rapacitY OF creditors to win the applause o.
the debtor class or thoughtless sentimental
lists do much to undermine sturdy honesty
and to corrupt the wholcsomencss of public
feeling.